A Case of Bilateral Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo in Bilateral Mondini Malformation With Right Enlarged Vestibular Aqueduct Syndrome / 대한평형의학회지

Enlarged vestibular aqueduct syndrome (EVAS) is well known congenital bony ear anomaly. It's audiologic symptoms and radiological findings are reported in many literatures. However vestibular symptoms of EVAS are rarely reported. A patient with right EVAS developed sudden spinning vertigo on casual observation. He is diagnosed as bilateral benign paroxysmal positional vertigo and recovered by canal repositioning maneuver. We present this case with reviews of previous literatures.

A Case of Sinusitis due to Bisphosphonate Related Osteonecrosis of Jaw / 대한이비인후과학회지

Bisphosphonates are used effectively for many medical conditions, such as multiple myeloma, Paget's disease, osteoporosis, etc. However, recent case series and retrospective studies have established a relationship between necrotic bone lesions localized to the jaw and the use of chronic bisphosphonate therapy. This condition has been named bisphosphonate related osteonecrosis of the jaw (BRONJ). Although some cases with BRONJ affect the paranasal sinus, they have been rarely reported in otorhinolaryngology. Hence, we report a case of BRONJ with sinus involvement and a review of the relevant literature.

Effect of Active Noise Cancelling Earphones on Preferred Listening Level When Listening to Portable Music Players in Noisy Environments / 대한이비인후과학회지

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Active noise cancelling (ANC) is a technology that can reduce external noise by producing a signal that is similar to noise but different in that it has an opposite phase to noise. Nowadays ANC has become an important technology in the field of hearing aids, but many studies have not focused on the effect of ANC of earphones when listening to portable music players. In this study, we aimed to evaluate whether ANC earphones can effectively reduce external noise and lower the preferred listening level. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: Three different earphones (Ear-canal, On-the-ear, Covering-the-ear) were tested in three different noise environments. Nine participants were tested in 10 experiments. First, through the real ear measurement (REM) system, we evaluated the differences in sound pressure level when the ANC was either turned on or off. Second, we evaluated the effects of ANC on Preferred Listening Level (PLL) for participants listening to the same song with different earphones. Through the REM system, we evaluate the level of sound pressure level when participants controlled the volume and felt most comfortable with the volume level. RESULTS: All three types of earphones showed statistically significant effects on noise reduction when ANC was turned on. The noise reduction effect was most prominent with the Ear-canal earphone. All three types of earphones also showed statistically significant effect on PLL reduction. CONCLUSION: ANC earphones may be helpful in noise reduction and preventing noise induced hearing loss when listening to music in noisy environments. Among the three types of earphones, Ear-canal earphone seems to be the most effective in noise reduction.

Significance of Correcting the Spontaneous Nystagmus in Siusoidal Harmonic Acceleration Test / 대한이비인후과학회지

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Spontaneous nystagmus may have an influence on the results of sinusoidal harmonic acceleration (SHA) test, although it has not been ascertained through sufficient studies. This study evaluated the effect of spontaneous nystagmus on the gain, asymmetry and phase values of the SHA test. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: We retrospectively analyzed 19 patients with acute unilateral vestibular weakness and spontaneous nystagmus (sn). All patients underwent a battery of vestibular testing including videonystagmography, bithermal caloric test, and SHA test. Gain, asymmetry, and phase were calculated with the conventional method without correcting for sn, thus the non-corrected SHA (nSHA). Then the same three parameters were calculated again after manually correcting for spontaneous nystagmus, thus the corrected SHA (cSHA). The two methods were compared with respect to gain, asymmetry and phase values. Correlation between the SHA test and caloric test was also analyzed. RESULTS: The gain of nSHA was significantly larger than that of cSHA in all frequencies. There was no difference in the phase values between the two analysis methods. The asymmetry of nSHA was 2.8 times larger than that of cSHA. The asymmetry values of both nSHA and cSHA showed a significant correlation between the caloric test and degree of spontaneous nystagmus. CONCLUSION: It seems that the SHA test is significantly influenced by spontaneous nystagmus. Although correcting for spontaneous nystagmus may not always be necessary, we should consider the effect of spontaneous nystagmus when interpreting the SHA test results of a patient who has spontaneous nystagmus.